I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering at Dalhousie University and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Cellular, Biomaterial and Matrix Interaction. I trained as a PhD student in the School of Public Health at SUNY at Albany, before completing a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at University of Michigan. At Dalhousie University, my group of highly qualified trainees is working at the intersection of chemistry, physics and biology to explore the interactions of various soft materials with cells, design novel biomaterials and develop cutting-edge miniaturization technologies with applications in biotechnology and medicine.

Alyne Teixeira (PhD Student)

Alyne completed her undergraduate degree in Industrial Pharmacy and her Master's degree in Biosciences and Technology of Bioactive Products in Brazil. As an industry scientist, she conducted many research projects involving pharmaceutical R&D. She volunteered as a research assistant in the Dalhousie University in the Department of Process Engineering and Applied Science, before joining the School of Biomedical Engineering as a PhD student in 2016. She is currently developing microfluidics devices for encapsulation of biomolecules to improve treatment of autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases. She also works in collaboration with research groups from the IWK Health Center evaluating technologies for vaccine adjuvant screening and evaluation. Alyne holds a Nova Scotia Graduate Scholarship from the Nova Scotia Provincial Government.

Rishima Agarwal (MASc Student)

Rishima started her research career by working as a research assistant at University of New Brunswick. She completed her BSc Honours in Biochemistry using NMR to identify active compounds against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Her current MASc work focuses on development of polymer-based technologies for bioprinting keratinocytes for applications in wound healing and skin reconstruction. Rishima has received scholarships from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CGS-M) and Exxon Mobil Canada Ltd. She recently presented her work at the Materials Research Society Annual Meeting and was nominated for the Best Poster Award. In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering and has received the Star Volunteer Award and Annual School of Biomedical Engineering Community Builder Award.

Kristin Robin Ko (MASc Student)

Born and raised in Halifax, NS, Kristin started working as a research assistant at Dalhousie during high school. She completed a BSc Honours in Neuroscience investigating the long-term effects of chronic sleep deprivation before pursuing a MASc in Biomedical Engineering. She is currently developing novel methods for high-throughput 3D neural tissue engineering to study Parkinson’s Disease. Her research has been recognized by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CGS-M), the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation (Scotia Scholars and George Turnbull Awards), the Nova Scotia Provincial Government (NSGS), and the Dalhousie School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME Research Day 1st Place Presentation Award and George W. Holbrook Master’s Award).

Nicky Tam (MASc Student)

Nicky completed his undergraduate studies in the Department of Physiology and Physics at McGill University. There, he worked on processing brain imaging data and studied the interactions of light on brain tissue and fluorescent dyes. He is now working towards a MASc, working with biomaterials and cellular models. His current project involves developing and comparing techniques for cancer cell culturing in 3D in order to better mimic natural systems.

Leo Liu (Undergraduate Student)

Leo came to Dalhousie for his undergraduate degree in Kinesiology. He started his research career as a volunteer in the Frampton Lab in the summer of 2016. Currently, he is working on a variety of projects involving the design and fabrication of novel fiber-based biomaterials. These projects include assembling collagen fibers to direct cell growth in 2D and 3D, as well as the design of other protein fiber materials. Apart from research, Leo is also the Vice President of the Dalhousie Chinese Students Scholars and Association (DCSSA), an organization that helps Chinese students advance their studies overseas.

Angela Tsai (Undergraduate Student)

Angela is a student in the Dalhousie Medical Sciences Program with a minor in French. Having volunteered in the Eskes and Maksym labs for more than a year, she now holds an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award and an IB renewable scholarship. She is currently working on modelling the airway system using 3D cell culture and investigating the relationships between different lung cell types. In her free time, she tutors, coordinates the Dalhousie French Society, and partakes in the Dalhousie iGEM Team. She also volunteers for the Halifax Public Libraries and the Dalhousie University International Centre.